How many presentations have you sat in and heard the speaker say that any audio device is a radio? How often during the pandemic did you say or did someone say to you that it is so important now for a station’s content to be available to listeners wherever they are? Your station’s stream has never been more important. That much you know for sure.
Last week though, JB shared an article with me about the mobile gaming industry. It is massive, pulling in $1.7 billion in the first quarter of this year alone.
Those games are all apps someone sought out for some reason and have given hours of their lives to. In some cases, they have given plenty of their paychecks (or their parents’ paychecks) to as well. Whether through content or through advertising, all of those users were convinced they could not live without that particular app.
How do we do that for our stations? How does sports radio get listeners to think about apps beyond just streaming the audio? If being able to listen to the station is all someone wants, they just need something like TuneIn or iHeartRadio. They don’t need to have the station’s proprietary app on their phone. How do we change that and get consumers to show the kind of loyalty to our brand app that they do to something like Clash of Clans or Pokémon Go?
“A key advantage to a branded app is that it gives a station prime ‘real estate’ on the user’s devices, in addition to showing up front in center in cars via the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto ecosystem,” radio guru Fred Jacobs told me in an email.
Jacobs Media began focusing on reaching digital audiences two decades ago. That led to the launch of jacapps, the company’s app development company last decade. Now, it is very focused on how audio (streaming or broadcast) gets the most out of the connected car.
Radio brands all over the world turn to Fred and his company to give their listeners the best mobile experience possible. He told me that most clients still focus on streaming audio as their app’s primary function. In the sports space in particular, Fred says it is important to do more.
“Given the immediate ‘breaking’ nature of sports, combined with the fans need to know RIGHT NOW, strategic stations are using the app to amp up engagement through tools like push messaging,” he says. “Also apps are now part of a broader in-home/out of home audio ecosystem, that should include Alexa/smart speakers as well as OTT apps (to access station content on smart TVs).”
Sure, it is easy to house your stream on a larger app. If your station is owned by iHeartMedia or Audacy, why develop something on your own? Those companies launched apps that are massively popular and are designed to offer the stream of every station in their respective portfolios to listeners anywhere in the world. It saves you money and it saves the user data and memory.
As enticing as those options are in the short term, Fred warns that in the long term, stations give up a lot of control when they rely on aggregated audio apps. The uncertainty alone should be enough to convince broadcasters that they need to be doing their own thing in the digital space.
“Aggregated apps are crowded and worse, it’s ‘rented’ real estate rather than ‘owned’ in most cases. The ‘goal posts’ can be moved at any time, and the local station has no control. New eMarketer data shows that nearly one-third of all media time is now spent on mobile, so having a custom application in this space gives brands a leg up.”
Okay, so it is clear that the benefits of having your own app far outweigh the costs to build one. What are some of the things that the app could offer in order to make listeners feel it is worth the effort and memory?
That is what I was thinking about as I read the article JB sent. Sure, some of these mobile games are high tech affairs that take advantage of augmented reality and GPS technology. Others though are pretty damn simplistic. You don’t need the Disney characters or the Candy Crush graphics and sounds in order to create your own puzzle game. Could a gaming feature make a difference to potential users?
It’s a little more creative than something like a scoreboard or the ability to interact with the station, but those things are pretty important too. I think that interactivity, be it a direct link to the text line or station specific Clubhouse or Greenroom spaces, are what can separate local stations’ apps from various national sports news apps. That sense of community can benefit a station on air and in sales too, as hosts and sellers start to find ways to mobilize app users for real world meet ups and promotions.
I asked Fred what some of his favorite features were. What ways are stations showing they “get it” when it comes to app development?
“I love the way WTOP (Hubbard’s all news station in Washington, DC) gives fans the ability to personalize app content, especially helpful when a station offers loads of multi-media options. The Hubbard stations use a rewards system that encourages extended listening and engagement on the apps – it not only extends listening to the station, but also showcases the value of the app. Again, that came in especially handy during 2020. For stations that offer branded alcohol, a ‘finder/locater’ option lets users see at a glance how far away they are from an outlets that carries ‘Ticket Beer’ or ‘Fan Vodka.'”
At the end of the day though, Fred says what works best isn’t that unique. He goes back to push notifications. Fred says it is one of the very best things to show stations that spending money to build your own app is worth it, because localized push notifications are something that aggregated audio apps simply cannot do.
“Utilized strategically and judiciously, they will drive listeners to whatever source is convenient to the user – a radio, the app, etc. That FOMO is especially powerful for a sports fan.
“These truly smart features are less technical and more strategic. When smart teams focus on how mobile apps can enhance the experience, generate revenue, and grow the brand, great things happen.”
Can radio take advantage of the $6.8 billion that mobile gaming is on pace to make this year? At the moment, I cannot tell you that I have a fool proof plan for our industry to get a piece of the pie. What I can say is that that particular dollar amount shows that people do have a dedication to their favorite apps. That is something to keep in mind next time someone tries to argue that the audio stream is really all anyone wants from a radio station.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
